Mumbai, June 14
A shooter of the Ravi Pujari gang today opened fire at film maker Mahesh Bhatt’s office at Juhu in suburban Mumbai this afternoon.
The police said the gunman arrived on a motorcycle at his office and asked for the film-maker. When told that he was not in, the gunman fired one round on the ground before escaping. He rode pillion while his accomplice drove the motorcycle, the police said.
Later, in the afternoon Mumbai Police Commissioner A.N. Roy told reporters that the police had obtained a sketch of the gunman from Bhatt’s employees and a manhunt had been launched.
Film-maker Ashok Pandit who arrived at Bhatt’s office shortly after the incident answered the telephone at the office when someone claiming to be Ravi Pujari called. Pandit later said the caller abused him and warned that today’s shooting was only a warning.
According to the police, Pujari is a small-time gangster who is attempting to fill the void caused by Abu Salem’s arrest. Pujari made yet another call at Bhatt’s residence and delivered a threatening message to the servants there.
Bhatt himself later appeared on television channels to say that he was threatened by callers for his public stand on various issues though none of them had to do with the underworld.
Later in the evening, a caller claiming to be Ravi Pujari called television channels to say that Bhatt was close to Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel and that he wanted to teach the veteran film-maker a lesson.
